laydida's blog

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Long Hiatus

my hands been itching to post some updates. but still tergendala due to so many reasons. now that we've settled in our own house, the soon-to-be big sista plak tak cooperative, being very demanding on every single aspect. hence little time to spend online. but i am definitely going to post some update, soon. with piccas too (gambarnye tak shot lagi :P)

i'm counting down to 4 weeks before labor. its been a difficult time to sit for a long time depan notebook, if u know what i mean..with baby's position descending down towards pelvic. so, am gonna put my entry to a stop now.

selamat berpuasa to all my Muslim frens out there!

BEFORE & AFTER

~!!~will be revealed soon~!!~

stay tune ;)

Silent Mode

honestly, i dont know where to start. perhaps i chose the wrong moment to put down some words on this page.

enough said, there's been a lot of important things happened in 2010 so far. mostly are life changing moments -- with happy thoughts, Alhamdulillah. we (read:me, MOH) are currently at the peak moment of the most anticipated thing in our life. insya-Allah will share more on this when time permits. 

i'm putting on my silent mode for now! 

We were here for the past 2 1/2 days..

the balcony view

buat kesekian kalinye. the 1st time for irene zafyra at cherating, and 2nd time tagging along mama on her work mission. yup, i was doing my outstation trip yesterday. alhamdulillah MOH got a day off (monday) hence weekend breakaway at cherating. and satu hari jadi nanny utk irene. baru tau pening kepala ke tak =P

the room - the bed part

what made things even better was we had our room upgraded from deluxe to superior coz they didnt give me what i booked - deluxe room with queen bed. mau tak hangin masa tgh check in, sbb dah place booking dari tahun lepas lagi (nak tunjuk lama la tu :P). tapi the reservation people missed to note the queen bed part down. the front desk guy was patient enough & without any hesitation terus upgrade our room *grin* sangat puas hati ok? customer satisfaction 1st..huhu.

from a distant

irene was still jakun at the beach mcm usual. mula2 takut pijak pasir..pastu takut nak main air. bawak masuk air jerit2 LOL. finally, managed to persuade her using 'main lukis-lukis' trick..so she went calm bila duduk atas pasir. when it was time to berendam, had to dukung her all the time...perghh! langsung tak mau lepas masa dlm air. very tiring indeed considering the fact that she weights more than 10kg nowadays. dengan aksi meronta-ronta lagi tu...mau tak letih kaki tangan den. 

up up, to the sky!

anyway, we had so much fun! mandi laut, makan ikan bakar, visit turtle sanctuary..sempat layan AJL lagi on sunday night. but being too tired, i didnt wait for the result. terus join MOH and irene tidoo.. zzzz...

btw, it was Impiana Beach Resort the place we stayed. plus point lagi, they allowed late checkout until 0400 pm WITHOUT extra charge. resort lain? hmm...jangan harap!

Traveling with your breastmilk

This entry is made specially for Aida, whose going to be on board soon for her ACCA study in the UK. Sorry dear if you waited ages for this entry to come up. honestly, anak dara sorang ni amatla demanding..so nak lari2 main internet ni memangla susah whenever she's awake.

btw, others who are reading this entry are also welcomed. It isn't much since this is purely based on my own experience, who has no medical/expert certificate whatsoever. But i hope this little information will bring a great benefit to mums out there. I tried to make it as simple as i can. Here goes..

+++++++++++

Traveling with your expressed breastmilk is challenging, seriously. especially during long trips, added with custom checks, restricted airline regulations etc. but it is not impossible at all. here are some of the basic principles that needs to be taken into consideration if you intend to do it.

1. traveling hours
count in these extra hours on top of your flight duration to ensure that you have enough ice pack to keep the precious milk completely frozen. 

- hours at the airport : at least 2 hours at departure point, 2 hours at arriving airport
- hours to and fro the airport

so, for example if your flight duration is 6 hours, your total journey is going to take at least 12 hours as such: 6 (flight hours) + 4 (airport hours) + 2 (to and fro airport).

ada sekali tu, my BM dah thawed sikit after 5 hours of journey. but me; who never really adhere to strict BM management rules; cepat2 masukkan BM yang dah cair sikit tadi tu (tapi masih sejukk) ke freezer and simpan max of 3 months utk feed. believe me, it is still as good as if it was never thawed before. to me, as long as the color and taste still the same (yes, i tasted my own BM ;) those were given to my baby & she had no complications with it at all. but then, this is a choice for you to make =) 

2. choice of icepack
i used 2 types of ice pack - Techi Ice & Mom's Precious Pack by mom's little one. honestly, the latter is the best because my EBM tak cair walau sikit pun even lepas travel around 6+ hours naik kereta (from Kedah-KL).

i've once read about an ice pack fact where it said multipurpose icepack (utk panas or sejuk mcm Techni Ice) ni kureng sikit performance dia..as compared to icepack utk cooling purposes only. cant remember where i read it, but its proven. Techni Ice ni kalau guna utk simpan ice cream pun boleh cair..camno tu..

3. storage box and liner
well, this is most important thing. i chosse coleman because of its durability & recognized performance. hehe. lagipun, considering the fact that hang luggage ni kene bawak ke hulu ke hilir, kene angkat & letak banyak kali masa pass thru checkpoints kat airport, dlm flight, ,so bekas coleman ni tak cepat rosak kalau terlanggar sana sini. 

one more thing, coleman top cover memang jenis yg tutup rapat punye..so your BM tak akan exposed to room temperature. advisable ikat coleman box tu (keliling) utk elakkan its top cover from accidentally opened..we never know when its gonna happen kan. so better take extra precaution.

utk simpan BM tu sendiri, i chose plastik ice cream. sebab ape? ice cream BM ni boleh disusun rapat2 dlm coleman sampai compact. so tak rugi dari segi ruang & boleh store lebih banyak BM as compared to using other plastic. memang leceh sikit sebab expressed dlm botol lepas tu kene transfer dlm plastik ice cream (3 oz je at most boleh isik), nak potong plastik, ikat, label semua....but believe me, its worth doing.

additionally, boleh refer kat my previous entry untuk info lebih pasal BM storage prep ni kat sini.

4. airline regulation 
for this part, you need to check dgn airline pasal syarat2 hand luggage. esp on the allowed dimension and weight.
with this kinda limitation, i always bring back BM for 5 days supply only. meaning, if i expressed more BM, it had to be pumped and dumped. in this kinda situation, i dont really have much choice. at least i brought back something rather than nothing, right? so aida, check whether you could at least bring 2 weeks of BM supply. kalau coleman tu besar mcm small size traveling bag should be okay..boleh muat lagi utk simpan kat tempat simpanan atas kepala tu..

also, there should be no issue to bring baby food on board (i know MAS wont have) samada frozen or liquid. mcm aida, it is much easier to convince the airline kalau baby ikut travel skali. cuba bayangkan cemana nak explain kat diorg yg kita bawak baby food..tapi bile toleh kiri kanan tak nampak pun baby. hmm..kene cerita panjang sikit ler..

5. airport custom
yg ni sama mcm airline regulation, baby food should be takde masalah. masa check in, minta dia tampal sticker "Fragile" kat coleman tu. masa pass thru custom, bagitau tu adalah baby food.

okay, that's all i have to share. hopefully there's nothing i missed. kalau ada apa2 soalan tambahan, boleh email saya di nurul1607[at]gmail[dot]com atau message kat shoutbox nuh. iAllah i'll entertain to your query at my best k?

Colorful Sky

What a weekend! 3 days of outing with the family and i am fully satisfied ^_^  and i hope MOH felt the same. little irene was never this joyful and excited, apetah lagi bile abah tok & mak tok pampered her throughout the day. too much? maybe, but sekali sekala apa salahnye.. hehehe.

my parents came all the way from johor starting from thursday night until yesterday noon, to spend some time with their children. actually they came with a mission on 83, and alhamdulillah mission completed with no problemo at all. so, to cut the story short, here are what we did for the past 3 days:

Day 1 (Friday) : site survey @ 83, Kedai Lampu @ Balakong, Avatar movie session @ GSC IOI mall, mission @ 83

Day 2 (Saturday) : Visit to Mak Su hse, Nilai 3, Masjid KLIA, dinner @ Saba' Restaurant Cyberjaya

Day 3 (Sunday) : Kedai Lampu @ Balakong (lagi), Nilai 3 (lagi)

Penat? of course. but it's worth every seconds of it. now i'm a taking a week off, boleh la kumpul energy balik & put my mind at ease before going back to the office next week (although esok kene gak g ofis sbb ada discussion. blerghh)

ok, some update on Irene Zafyra who turns 21 months yesterday ^_^

Self-feed

- cekap feed with fork or spoon. good control while drinking in a cup

- if she wants to eat/drink more, she'll say "nak agii, ambah (read:nak lagi. tambah)

- if she's full, obey mama's order to basuh tangan. else, takde respond or say "nanakk" (read:tanakk)

Language skill

- can literally communicate her needs

- responds to questions or requests

- sings aka: tiru nyanyian kat radio or sings her own song

- greets mama or ayah every once in a while during playtime

- whisper "Allahuakbar" everytime lepas yawn (in her own pronunciation) 

- mimic grown ups conversation with complete no. of syllable e.g. mak tok nak adi (read: mak tok nak mandi)

Interest

- still loves books! 

- kuat berjalan, pantang nampak sapa2 approach pintu rumah nak keluar, mesti dia mula amik kasut. ni mmg tak bole salahkan dia sbb mak bapak dia jenih kuat outing. hehe..

- loves to sketch with her pencil color. had to buy kertas lukisan for her drawing canvas & make remarks to mama when she accidentally conteng on her work table or elsewhere (selain kertas)

- suka UPIN dan IPIN. cant stop asking for the movie or series..sampai mama dah hafal script ok!

- suka tengok Disney DVD - Magic English series. she'd say "mama, nak nok Hello" (read:mama, nak tengok Hello)

- suka lariii. bila tengok tempat luas sket je, dia lari sambil sebut "aghiii" (read:larii)

- more attached with mama. hmmm...tengah confuse dengan teori '1st daughter akan jadik daddy's girl'. nampak mcm tak betul jer?

Misc

- tolerates teeth-brushing session

- 

last but not least, just wanna share irene's latest gadget @ home. berhantu betul bende ni, sampai tanak mandi pun susah bila dah duduk atas tu. nangis2 keluar air mata o0o kalau ajak mandi, pastu panggil atuk huhuhu. konon diorg boleh selamatkan ker? hahaha..

pagi2 for sure kene sorok. kalau tidak, alamatnye tak pegi kerja laa kitorg!

credits to abah tok

checking what went wrong

in action, sangat laju ok!

83 is the number

beberapa minggu kebelakangan ni asyik sibuk menguruskan hal rumah. survey sana, survey sini. alhamdulillah, renovation Part I almost siap. by end of year kontraktor tu janji, semuanya akan setel. pagi tadi pegi jenguk lagi rumah, almost 60% work complete. so far so good, takde masalah in terms of workmanship & project management. pendek kata, memang berbaloi amik zainal & the geng ni.

start dari pagi tadi sampai pukul 3 kami keluar - breakfast, car wash + hantar WML service, check rumah and zasss to bangi utk buat survey lagi. zafyra sangat2 letey sampaikan bila masuk kereta je, badan dia lembik & mata terus nak terlelap. so kesian anak mama. tapi yang herannye, dlm showroom tadi bukan main cargas? ajak duduk atas kerusi pun tak mau. la ni jam dah pukul 0649pm & dia masih tidur lagi. letey sangat2. sebelum maghrib kang nak kejutkan dia bangun. 

esok plan apa pulak? MOH ajak gi nilai 3, survey apa yg patut. seumur hidup tak pernah lagi sampai tempat tu. so..dont know what to expect. our plan nak gerak awal pagi so by the time matahari dah tegak atas kepala, kami dah sedap2 duduk dlm kereta berair-cond, on the way balik rumah :D

pendek kata, selagi tak pindah masuk rumah ni, memang trasa endless lah mende2 yang nak disiapkan. tak sangka, dah sampai masa nak move out. terasa sangat2 beruntung buat keputusan nak beli rumah masa belum kawen dulu + booked lot yang belum bukak utk dijual. ada banyak kelebihan & keuntungan disebaliknye. oh, speaking about that, draft surat claim tak buat lagi! harus remind MOH utk kesekian kalinye. hehe. kalau diproses cepat, boleh dijadikan modal untuk membuat apa2 yang patut. moga2 urusan dipermudahkan.

minggu depan kami cuti panjang - balik ke SP. so kerja yang 2 hari je tu mcm tak boleh berapa fokus. sebabnya? dah lama tak cuti panjang & berehat2. am soo looking forward for this! MOH nak ajak jalan2 kat penang, pegi taman bunga LOL! so tunggu jela cerita gambar nanti. 

plan cuti anda mcm mana pulak?

Vacation, vacation

I am in a dire need of one. must make plan for next year. must make it happen!

Random

Not too sure what to jot. too much thinking and happenings lately, was too occupied getting things done. too tired by the end of the day, got easily dozed off while getting lil' irene to sleep.

perhaps i'll just make a note or two (maybe three?) for the sake of making sure this blog is still alive.

got a contractor last week, recommended by a friend who worked in the same office. had a meet up yesterday @ 83, and was given a good offer. to boost up our confidence, the contractor brought us to visit one of his work site at D7 @ Bangi. were totally impressed! with both the house and workmanship. closed the deal there and then. got another surprise when receiving his message telling the construction stuffs will be loaded to our house tomorrow morning! what can i say..sangat committed ini person. deposit pun tak masukkan lagi dia dah nak start keje..hehehe. i like! anyways, need to put good faith and pray there'll be minimal glitches along the way. iAllah by new year the work will complete. lepas tu, lagi banyak pulak nak kene pk.

attended a friends wedding @ MAEPS today. hoped to see lotsa familiar faces, but only 2 showed up. oklah..better than none. had too little time for chat sebab anak masing2 dah cranky..lama sangat duduk dlm hall huhuu. lil' irene got too tired and sleepy, she cried out few minutes before we left. so, by 0730 pm tadi she already went to sleep. huhu sangat peaceful malam ini.

will be going back to johor this weekend..leaving the lil angel behind with atuk & nenek. sorry sayang..mama has to go offshore again. iAllah will have lotsa family trip next year since MOH is settling down with his new place. cuti pun banyak ok? plus, the list of places to go is much more interesting next year. 

lil irene is approaching 20 months. dah 20 bulan..but still, every time i had to finger count berapa bulan dia dah lahir..hahah. am i a  bad mom? no-lah! banyak sangat kira2 nak kene buat ok? hehehe..

anyways, she now can talk better. meaning, understandable lah. to pick a few, she'd say "pampersh nuhh" sambil pointing to her pants, or "hello, how ya yu" maknenye how are u. before this, she'd say 'bah' for tambah, or num for minum. 

she grows to love books even more. makin manja, knows how to express sayang to mama & ayah. and lately, kalau ada yg take kene je, sikit2 sebut "mama mama". but paling tak tahan she's becoming obedient bile dgn MOH as compared to me.dulu dgn ayah sikit tak mau geng. musykil2. whatever it is, MOH and I has started to educate her little by little at home. with the materials we have, hope she's gonna benefit a lot, insya-Allah.

am starting to feel dizzy. lama tak stay up tehehe. perhaps i should lie down and sleep. tomorrow's gonna be a one busy day for me.